Against the Rules (Even The Score #4)

91. king

CHAPTER 91

KING

SURE AS SHIT DOESN'T CONCERN YOU

When Coach Lawson pulled me aside, I left Jasmine with Ryan and Adam, with the specific instructions that she didn’t need to make a ninth trip to the chocolate fountain. If she had any more sugar, she would literally start vibrating.

The second I walked away, I could clearly see them making a direct line for it.

I rolled my eyes and followed Coach. It was too good of a party, I wouldn’t be the strict older brother tonight.

"Let’s go outside," Lawson said, his voice strangely clipped.

It was warm, the last of Houston’s really hot evenings. We were the only two out on the balcony. I grinned at my coach, waiting for what he needed.

"If I ask a question, I expect the truth."

"Yes, sir."

"Why don’t you go ahead and tell me what this is?"

It was a text conversation with an unknown number. I frowned. The contact actually said "Unknown Number" and below that was a blurry photo.

It was a picture of me, punching Elijah in the face at the hockey party.

My heart stopped in my chest.

"Nothing?" he said, his voice curt. "You don’t have anything for me?"

"Sir, that was…a mistake. It won’t happen again."

"You brought my underage stepdaughter to a hockey party—I’m seeing bottles here so don’t try to tell me it was a teetotaler celebration—where you proceeded to beat the hell out of another athlete?" He slipped his phone back in his pocket, staring incredulously at me. "Is that where the stitches came from?"

I nodded.

"So, Cross and Russell lied when they said it was a training accident, they must've thought this was hilarious."

I shook my head.

"I gave you the chance of a lifetime, King, and the time you decide to throw that away, is when you bring my stepdaughter to a hockey party? "

"Sir, she wanted to go to that party?—"

"If a three-year-old wants to run around with knives, I guess we give them the fucking cleavers?"

I shook my head again.

"I can’t tell you how disappointed I am. I sure as hell can’t. We’ll talk about your consequences tomorrow."

"Sir, I wasn’t?—"

"Watch your tone, King."

I fell silent.

"I don’t need more words from you. In fact, if you could go back to being silent again, that’d be a lot more goddamn helpful." His eyes flickered to the door. "She could’ve been hurt and you whipped Elijah Contractor—you’re not even in the same weight class. Do you see how much smaller he is than you? Christ! What the hell were you thinking?"

"I—I’m sorry, sir."

"It was my mistake to have you keep an eye on her. That was a fumble on my end."

" What? "

"That’s done. It’s not your responsibility anymore."

It was exactly like when Coach told me Willow was leaving for Massachusetts but worse . I heard the implication under his words, underlined and highlighted. The breath left my body. I started shaking my head before I realized what I was doing.

"You can’t take her away from me."

" What? " For a long minute, Lawson gaped, slack-jawed. "What did you say?"

Everything was written on my face and I knew Lawson could read it because he started turning purple.

"We were supposed to talk about this tomorrow, sir. At dinner."

"You better not be saying what I think you’re saying."

"I’m in love with your stepdaughter. She’s helped me with my family, she makes me feel good about myself, she’s my favorite person, we’re moving in together, after the draft, we’re getting married?—"

"Like fucking hell you are." He ripped off his Romans cap. "What part of this did you think I’d be fine with? You’re a pitbull, you’re King fucking Kong, we both know what you’re capable of, and I’m not letting my stepdaughter pal around with you until this shit—" he flashed his phone, "—happens again."

Fuck.

"I would never hurt her," I said quietly.

"Yeah. You won’t. Because you’re going to march in there and tell her it’s done."

I shook my head harder. "No."

"You’re going to stay away from her?—"

" No. "

"If you think I’ll let this happen?—"

"Willow loves me. I know she does."

"Your dad can’t fucking walk anymore!" he snapped. "You think I’d let her be with the kid who did that? "

I fell silent. For the last couple of years, I did everything for him, and in the end, this was how my coach saw me. But the longer the hurt settled, the more I realized what he thought about me didn’t matter.

I had something more important to worry about.

The only real pain would come from ending things with Willow again. The next breakup would be the last. I couldn’t let that happen.

I leveraged my gaze with his. "Sir, with all due respect, I don’t need your permission. I have her actual father’s."

The door pushed open and I heard Ryan’s voice without seeing him. "King?"

"Cross, leave, " Lawson barked. "This doesn’t concern you."

"Fuck, here we go," I heard Ryan mutter. "Uh, sir, King is a fantastic asset to the Romans?—"

Adam joined in too. "Coach, we all love King. We love him. He’s the best. And it could be worse, it could be me fucking your stepdaughter?—"

I jerked back. " Adam. "

"Shit—sorry. Uh—sleeping with. No, wait, dating!"

Our audience grew when my mom stepped in. "Oh, Lawson?—"

"Mom, go back inside," I told her.

"I understand reservations, I do!" she assured him. "When I saw the tattoo?—"

Lawson yanked back. "You have a tattoo for her?!"

More people were approaching from the banquet and there was Mrs. Lawson. "A tattoo? A tattoo? "

"What’s going on?" Willow broke through and I froze at the sight of her.

Her mother whirled back. "What tattoo? "

Willow floundered for a reply. "Oh my god, I just paid the deposit, how did you?—?"

Everyone started yelling while I stared at my girlfriend. There was no way I heard her correctly. Willow would never get a tattoo, ever. I couldn’t even picture her in the parlor. What deposit?

Joyce and Coach were coming unglued about the tattoo possibility while my insides warmed.

Willow wanted to get a tattoo for me.

I swiveled back to Coach. "Sir. I know you’ve been waiting for her to transfer, I know you’re trying to build that relationship with her, but I’m not coming in the middle of any of that, I promise. I love her. I don’t want you to stop trying to repair what you did."

"What?" The angry tone disappeared, and everything became a little quieter. "What I did? What accusations are you tossing around?"

"It doesn’t matter," Willow assured him.

" What doesn’t matter?"

"I know about the affair, but you make my mom so happy and?—"

"Affair?"

Her mom blinked, stunned. "Oh…Willow."

Coach Lawson took a long look at the balcony, flooded with people, trying to push their own words into the conversation before he put two fingers against his mouth and whistled hard enough for it to hurt.

"Everybody, except for my wife and Willow, get the hell out." He pointed to me. "You included. Get out of my sight. I don’t want to see you."